Khet Majoor Samity

Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), an independent trade union in West Bengal, India, promotes the rights of agricultural workers to decent wages, work and food. More than half of its membership consists of women.

19 May 2017

The Right to
Food Campaign expresses deep disappointment over the truncated Maternity
Benefits Programme (MBP) that was approved by the Cabinet yesterday. Maternity
benefits of at least Rs. 6000 for all pregnant and lactating women (except
those working in government/public sector undertakings) have been a legal
entitlement for almost four years now, guaranteed under the National Food
Security Act (NFSA, 2013).

Despite
this, there was no scheme formulated to deliver this entitlement by the central
government. Only the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) a pilot
scheme in 53 districts continued to be implemented. The Prime Minister in his
speech on December 31st announced expansion of maternity
benefits to all districts without making any reference to the NFSA. Since then
there have been indications that there will be a number of exclusions, a fear
expressed by the RTFC as well in response to the underfunding of the scheme as
reflected in the annual budget.

The cabinet
approved MBP goes against the letter and spirit of the NFSA. Firstly, it is
restricted to only the first birth. There is no justification for this other
than keeping the financial obligations to the minimum. All conditionalities
attached to the current IGMSY scheme such as two child norm and age of marriage
have been shown to be fundamentally discriminatory to both women and children
affecting the most marginalised and vulnerable women large from socially
discriminated communities such as SC, ST and minorities putting their lives to
risk. In the process of universalisation rather than withdrawing all
conditionalities from IGMSY, the new scheme makes it even more restrictive.

In another
unwarranted move, the MBP has also been linked to institutional deliveries,
possibly to further reduce the funds allocated, and therefore merged with the
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). The JSY is an older scheme that was started with
an entirely different purpose which was to incentivise institutional deliveries
whereas the MBP is intended to provide wage compensation, just as it does in
the formal sector and has been included in the NFSA as a minimum of Rs 6000 for
that purpose alone. Based on data from the latest National Family Health
Survey, 21% of children born at home are already ineligible for JSY.

The
Maternity Benefits Act (MBA) was recently amended to expand the maternity leave
from 17weeks to 26 weeks. While this was
a welcome move, the MBA covers only about 18 lakh women in the organised sector
whereas over 2.7 crore deliveries take place in India each year. The maternity
benefits act does not include in its ambit more than 95% of women in the
country who are in the informal sector. When the requirement of six months of
paid leave has been accepted for women in the formal sector (public and
private), it is unacceptable that a wage compensation of less than half of
minimum wages, that too only for one birth should be the norm for the rest of
the women in the country. In fact, the modest maternity entitlements under MBP
are barely equivalent to five weeks of minimum wages in Bihar [compared to the
more than 6 months of paid leave offered in the formal sector]. Such
meagre wage compensation in light of the amendment to the Maternity Benefit
Act, would in fact amount to discrimination and inequality of law under article
14 of the constitution.

The campaign
demands universal, unconditional maternity entitlements equivalent to wages for
a minimum of six months at no less than the prevailing minimum wages. Maternity
entitlements must be seen as a right for all women and also as wage
compensation for those in the unorganised sector.

In a shocking situation in West Bengal, where the TMC and their Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee came to power on the back of struggles against forcible land acquisition, the ruling party has unleashed unprecedented repression on a movement in Bhangur against similar forcible land acquisition. People of the villages Khamarait, Machhibhanga, Tona, Gazipur etc. in Polerhat 2 No. Panchayat in Bhangar Assembly Constituency, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal are facing desperate situation due to the Government decision to situate a Power Grid (440/220 KV) in that area.

Two people have been killed in police firing, 33 people are in jail, over 40 people have been charged with terror charges under UAPA, and almost the entire population of about 20 villages (men, children and women) have been charged with a number of falsely fabricated non-bailable offences, including eminent activists working for justice through a West Bengal level solidarity committee. An unofficial economic blockade has been declared with any person leaving the village being arrested. Despite repeatedly asking for dialogue, the Government is refusing to talk to the affected people.

In order to bring national attention to this struggle, we are organising a press conference on the on 5th May 2017 at 1.30 PM at the Women’s Press Corps office, 5 Windsor Place, New Delhi 110001.

Undaunted by the heat and
the sun, with temperatures reaching 400C, members of the Right to
Food and Work Campaign-West Bengal reached Kolkata on April 27 for a deputation
to the Food and Supplies Department. Those participating came from the
Himalayan foothills of North Bengal, the islands of the Sunderbans, the burning
red laterite soil of western West Bengal, the areas bordering Bangladesh and
the green plains surrounding the Hooghly. Those in the processions ranged from
sex workers to midday meal cooks, agricultural workers to van rickshaw pullers,
housewives to members of self-help groups, domestic servants to tea garden
workers etc.

This huge group of over 5,000
people from 16 districts of the State, along with the urban poor of Kolkata,
sent a delegation that met the Secretary Food and Supplies Department, Mr Durga
Das Goswami and Joint Secretary and Nodal Officer (for the National Food
Security Act), Mr Shubra Chakraborty. Their response was as follows:

Measures would be taken by the Department to segregate Government and
tea management rations so that the management does not cheat tea garden workers
by replacing its food grain component of wages-in-kind with Government rations.

The Department was already
considering the Campaign’s demands to give wheat instead of bad quality atta.
It was also in the process of issuing a circular to ensure that the five
different types of cards are not used unfairly and to stop many poor families
being enlisted as RKSY 2 and many better off families being given Antodaya
cards.

The delegation was assured
that Vigilance and Monitoring Committees would be formed and made functional
soon and representation from Campaign members in these committees would also be
ensured.

The officials said that
allotment copies of the amount of food grains transferred to each ration dealer
would be provided to the members of the campaign. For this purpose, the
delegation was asked to give a list of names with phone numbers in every block
to whom they would give the allotment copy. Also the SMS system to provide
ration card holders with information about their allotments would be
re-started.

Issues such as
universalization of the rationing system, formation of the Food Commission,
bringing all food schemes under the Food Security Rules and providing all
ration card holders with 14kgs of food grains, 1.5 kg pulses, 800 ml edible oil
and 1 litre kerosene oil at subsidized prices were policy issues which they
would forward to their superiors.

While the Department felt
that the PoS machine could be used to stop corruption, they agreed to look at
the Campaign’s experience in other states and to see that PoS machines and
Aadhar cards do not become a means of exclusion.

The delegation was assured
that on giving specific experiences, all food grains due to beneficiaries from
their past quotas in the rationing system would be immediately disbursed to the
beneficiaries;

The participants from 17
districts came to the Subodh Mullick Square in two rallies from Howrah Station,
and Sealdah station. Throughout the rallies their main slogan was “Work in
every hand and Food in every plate”, interspersed with songs and dances.

While the original intention was to go to Khadya Bhawan itself, the police
stopped the rallies at SM Square, where many participants made speeches in
support of the demands while a delegation of 7 people met the Minister’s
representatives.

09 March 2017

We are writing with an appeal, and update on the legal
case. The Maruti Suzuki workers case ('State of Haryana vs Jiyalal &
Others') is going on since July 2012 through a maze of evidence-less lies and clear
pro-corporate anti-worker intent. Since 2012, 216 workers face possible
convictions by a pro-corporate system, besides the terminations (and labour
cases) of 546 permanent workers and 1800 contract workers, and a separate case
of offences against 111 more workers in Kaithal since 2013.

Thedate
for the Judgment from the Trial Court, the Gurgaon Additional District and
Sessions Court, has been set for 10thMarch
2017. We are apprehensive and have grounds to believe that it will be a
politically motivated anti-worker Judgement. The hand-shaking between the
Maruti Suzuki company management and the Police, administration, the government
and Judiciary could not be more clear as in this case. We are apprehensive
about a Pricol-type 'life sentences' and long-term convictions against hundreds
of workers and are preparing with a call for unity of all workers and all
pro-worker forces.We
appeal to you from the Provisional Working Committee, Maruti
Suzuki Workers Union to be present in the Gurgaon Sessions Court premises on
the day of the Judgement in the case on the 10th of March. We also
appeal to you to be united and take solidarity actions in support of Justice
for all Maruti Suzuki workers facing repression by the Central and State
Government and the Company.

Update on the Legal Case as it Stands during the Final
Arguments:

Context: We had 3 strikes in 2011 where
we raised voice against the system of exploitation in the factory, and had to
face continued management attacks on our Trade Union rights with complicity of
the administration. We finally formed our Union – Maruti Suzuki Workers Union,
Manesar (Reg. No.1923) on 1 March 2012. In April, we submitted their Charter of
Demands, where the Union said abolition of contract worker system as one of its
central demands, among others. This kind of assertion of our rights against
their exploitation was not being taken lightly by the Company management, as it
challenged their power and profits. They wanted to attack the Union through
their power and conspiracy, which resulted in the incident on 18 July 2012, of
a clash inside the plant and the death of an HR manager. Since then, 147
workers have been in Jail without having got bail for more than 3-and-a-half
years on charges ranging from murder, attempt to murder, rioting, looting,
setting fire to private property and various Sections of the IPC. Currently, 11
workers continue to be in jail without bail, which includes the members of the
then Union Body. 66 more workers other than the 147 have similar charges under
various non-bailable sections. Along with this criminalization of labour, 546
permanent and 1800 contract workers were terminated from their jobs, whose
labour cases are also ongoing. 2500 working class families faced constant
repression and penury on top of exploitation of the workers in the factory
which created the basis for the management-labour conflict. We have had a
movement against this regime of exploitation and repression till today.

The final legal arguments in the Maruti Suzuki workers
Trial case concluded on 18February,
2017 with arguments by Advocates Vrinda Grover, Rebecca John and RS Cheema
against the State Prosecution. Find here some facts on the case as it stands
in the Courts:

1.It was
established during the final arguments that there is no direct evidence linking
‘murder’ or ‘setting fire’ to the factory on any worker. No prosecution witness
could establish any worker involvement in the same. Neither was any CCTV
footage produced by the Prosecution even after Defence asked for the same. The
managementperson
Deepak Anand from GM Vigilance who filed the FIR against the 55 Maruti workers
named therein, could not identify any worker. The witness Salil Vihari who
named the main accused Jiyalal, could not identify him.

2.On 18 July 2012, the
incident of conflict happened at 7.20pm. But Police was called by the Company
management at 11am itself, but Police was not allowed inside until the entire
incident came to a boil. It has already been said by workers that it was a
pre-planned conspiracy on behalf of the management so that a conflict is
generated and workers can be implicated on this basis. Bouncers in workers
clothes were also brought inside in the morning itself without IDs.

3.The FIR mentions
that 400–500 workers with rods, batons and sticks in hand entered the HR and
beat the management but no witness mentions these weapons. Instead all the
witness uniformly said that workers were carrying shockers and door beams –
each doorbeam and shocker weighing over 4kgs, so around 4000kgs of weapons were
supposedly recovered. On top of this, Police show that a major section of
workers took all these weapons to their respective homes and kept them under
their beds and almirahs. For another set of workers, Police showed that they
caught 20 workers simultaneously siting under a tree conveniently possessing
all these weapons.

4.Also, witnesses had said that each
manager was beaten up by 4-5 workers with these weapons with intention of
murder. The also stated that no one came to rescue them. But if this was so,
then how did they manage to rescue themselves with no serious injury? To this,
they said that the workers themselves let them off, which clearly is no
intention to murder! The witnesses testified that all of them uniformly
stopped the attacks with their left hand. In the MLC done on management
injuries show absurdities as a dental root canal as injury!

5.It hasbeen establishedhow
89 of the 147 workers have been arrested on the basis of names given
alphabetically by 4 contractors. None of these workers were identified. Court documents show witness Virendra alias
Rajender Yadav has named 25 workers such that all workers' names fall in the
alphabetical range of A-G. Another witness contractor Yaad Ram testified that
he saw 25 workers rioting, all of whose names fall in the next range G-P.
Witness Ashok Rana names 26 workers who were allegedly rioting whose names
range from P-S. The final witness Rakesh of Tirupati Associates who supplied
900 contract workers to MSIL testified to allegedly seeing 13 workers whose
names, continuing the alphabetic sequence, are in the range S-Y.

6.The lists of workers
arrested thus was provided by the Company to the Police, and not on the basis
of its own investigation, pointing to an active collusion between the two.

7.On ‘setting fire to
the factory’: There was no evidence whatsoever as to setting fire and
no witness could explain how the fire was lit and who did it. First, there
were contradictory statements as to where the fire was lit – in the conference
(M1) room in the first floor, or outside it, or in the ground floor. Awanish
Dev’s dead body was recovered from the M1 room, and the witnesses claimed that
the room was lit on fire from inside where fighting was taking place, but while
testifying they argued that the room caught fire from the outside.

Fire lit and burnt everything
down but the match box (a new one) was conveniently unharmed and lying there to
be discovered. This recovery of the match box itself was not immediate. At the
place of the incident, when the security on-watch, Om Prakash, went on 19thJuly
2012 in the morning at 6 am, to the M1 store with a photographer nothing was
recovered. Then on that very day at 12 pm FSL authority D. Sonu searched and
recovered a new match box and a door frame, and where the room was entirely
burnt there was no sign of the matches itself being lit. He neither signed the
recovery report nor did he testify in court on the recovered matches and door
beam.

On the setting of fire inside
the M1 room, of the 16 witnesses that had stated that the room was lit on fire,
and 3 witnesses took names of those who did it. None of these witnesses could
identify any worker or wrongly identified.

8.According to the
postmortem report, Awanish Dev’s death was due to asphyxiation. The injury he
had is below the knee on the right leg, which cannot lead to death which proves
that neither is there a murder case possible against the workers nor is their
intention to murder in this case. So Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt
to murder) clearly do not hold. At max, only 2 people can cause such an injury,
while 216 workers have been accused of murder and attempt to murder.

Thus even though this is, on the face of it, pertaining to
the case on 18 July 2012 where a general manager of the company Awanish Kumar
Dev died in the conflict that erupted that day after a Dalit worker Jiyalal was
suspended from duty unilaterally when a supervisor attacked him and gave
casteist abuse. But as is evident by now, it was a conspiracy from the
management against assertion of workers for our Trade Union rights.

Even so, the considerations of the Judiciary are suspect
as is evident from one of the High Court orders in May 2013 rejecting bail said
“this is one one of the unfortunate incident that has lowered the reputation of
India in the world. Foreign direct investment is likely not to happen due to
fear of growing labour unrest”. The State has already spent crores of public
money all these years against the workers. As per RTI, the government paid Advocate KTS Tulsi R.5.5 crore
in just 2 years - s.11
lakh per appearance - just in the Gurgaon Additional District and Sessions
Court, Mr Tulsi's three assistants Rs.66000 for each appearance and
"clerkage" of over Rs.1 lakh for his expenses each appearance.
If this was not enough, instead of the Public Prosecutor from the State,
Private Prosecutor from the Company, Vikas Pahwa again kept the 'last word' on
their behalf in the Sessions Court Gurgaon
during the final arguments.

Will
there be Justice for Maruti Workers?

The 147
workers who have spent over four years in Jail, and 11 who
continue to be jailed without bail since July 2012, the total implicated 216,
the 2500 families, those who have lost their family members in that course of
time or not been able to see their children grow up for those years or have not
been able to part of the joys and sorrows of their family for that time - will
there be justice?

In this industrial belt, workers struggle have happened
from Rico Gurgaon (2009) to Shriram Pistons Bhiwadi (2014) to Honda Tapukhera
(2016) and countless others against regime of exploitation on workers by the
profit-hungry MNCs. Management. In all these cases, to control the simmering
tension, there have been outright repression through terminations, violence,
murders, lathi-charges, false criminal cases and prison terms by the Police-administration-government
and local goons on the company’s payrolls. In current workers struggles, while
the management says, “we will make Maruti-like situation for you” (repress you
like the Maruti workers), the workers also say right back, “This can turn into
a Maruti-like situation” (Workers will wage a collective movement relentlessly
against exploitation-repression). We say this will be a ‘political judgement’
since this judgement becomes a measure and signal of which version of
‘maruti-like situation’ stands.

On 1st March 2017, we marked 6 years of the
formation of our Union with a gate meeting in front of the factory in Manesar,
where thousands of workers and Unions participated. After this, the
company has moved a stay order against 10
terminated workers in the leadership of the Provisional Working Committee, MSWU
to stay 2kms away from the company gate. On 7th March, various Unions met in
Gurgaon and resolved to hold factory gate meetings and give warning letters to
their managements in solidarity with Jailed workers which happened on 8th
March. There is lunch and dinner Boycott in various factories on 9th March.
Hundreds of workers will gather in the Court premises at 10am and in the
afternoon on 10th March.

We
appeal to you to be united and resist this onslaught by
capitalists and the government, and stand with the workers class movement in this
crucial and decisive situation. We
appeal to you from the Provisional Working Committee, Maruti Suzuki
Workers Union to be present in the Gurgaon Sessions Court premises on the day
of the Judgement in the case on the 10th of March. We also appeal to
you to take solidarity actions in support of Justice for all Maruti Suzuki
workers facing repression by the Central and State Government and the Company.

06 March 2017

The
WSS (Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression) is a nationwide
platform of various women’s organizations and individuals, whose member
Sharmishtha Chowdhury is currently in jail for supporting the peasant movement
against a power grid in the villages of Bhangar. Over the past three
days, a 12-member team of WSS has visited the affected villagers and concerned
officials to understand the origins and the impetus behind the movement, and
the response of the civil society and government functionaries to it.

Inquiries by the WSS team have revealed that since 2013,
the peasant families of Bhangar have been repeatedly seeking basic information
about the power grid and transmission line project that deeply impacts their
lives and livelihoods, but have received no information or have been
deliberately misinformed at every step. They have tried to meet every
statutory, legislative and constitutional authority in the area to register
their concerns, but no one agreed to meet with them, and when they have
demanded talks and dialogue with the administration to resolve their concerns,
they have instead faced police encampments, arrests and bullets.

Such an irresponsible and insensitive response from the government
has only heightened the tensions in the area and increased apprehensions
about the project. This is the sole reason behind the situation today, where
the villagers have lost all trust in the government and its intentions towards
their well-being, and entire families, including women and children are
resisting it despite the enormous hardship and violence they are continuously
facing. This was definitely not expected of the current government that came to
power on the back of people’s mass movements against large projects, and had
thus won the confidence of the very people who are now so vehemently
protesting.

Acquisition
of Land Irregular, Illegal and Arbitrary

The Bhangar movement started around 2013, when around 13
acres of land were sought to be acquired by the government in the village
Khamarait. The WSS team learned that the acquisition happened in a completely
arbitrary and illegal manner, and that all processes of acquisition were
handled by one person, Arabul Islam of the ruling party. He not only
arbitrarily decided how much compensation was to be handed out to whom, but
also took a cut from all these compensations. While a case against this
forcible acquisition is still pending before the High Court, and 11 people have
not yet taken the compensation, the construction of the grid proceeded at full
place and was completed within one year. The Award has still not been shown to the
villagers.

Not only was the acquisition procedures completely opaque
to the villagers, they were even kept in the dark about the purpose of the
acquisition – first it was meant for government flats, then for a power
sub-station and only after the structure was half-completed, did the villagers
learn from a board in front of the construction site that it was actually for a
power grid. And it was not until the last quarter of 2016, when giant
transmission towers arrived in their village on the beds of the monstrous
trucks did they realize that this project will impact the farms and lands
outside of the 13-acre plot as well.

Escalating Violence

When the villagers of Bhangar started asking questions
about the impact of these High Voltage Transmission Lines on their lives,
livelihoods, health and environment, the government dispatched police to the
village on 3 Nov 2016, who beat up people including many women and terrorized
them by arresting 6 people, and occupied the village for 18 days. Since
then, the police have been regularly harassing the local populations to the
extent that several families have left their houses and are living with their
relatives out of fear of the police.

The situation further worsened on 16 January 2017, when
the police entered the villages, beat up people and arrested villagers. The next morning, the police assaulted people going to work, destroyed homes,
picked up more people, ransacked shops, attacked the women who had come to
assist the shopkeeper, including the elderly Mayur Jan Bibi whose hand was
fractured in three places. Those arrested were badly beaten up and
the hand and finger of one juvenile Zahir Husain, was broken and remained
untreated for 6 days. Manwara Bibi was sexually assaulted and her disabled
husband was beaten up

In response, the villagers protested and blockaded
the roads, demanding the authorities should conduct a dialogue with the people,
release the detained villagers, and withdraw the police encampments from the
area. Eventually, after an extended stand-off, the DM and the SP sent
separate messages through the SDO and the DSP agreeing to a meeting within two
days, promising not to oppose the bail of arrested persons and remove the
police. The organizers used the microphones in the masjid to inform the
agitated villagers of this, and requested them to safeguard the safety of the
retreating police. But even as the crowd of villagers parted to let the police
vehicles go back, the police randomly fired bullets in all directions, killing two
villagers, Alamgir and Mofizul Khan, and injuring Akbar. The
villagers recounted to the team how, after Alarmgir fell after being hit with a
bullet, the police kicked him repeatedly, and shot him at close quarters in
cold-blooded murder. Maufizul Khan was killed when he was walking
home from work. Akbar was shot in the back.

The WSS team witnessed first-hand the continuing violence
that the affected villagers have to live with every day, when they were caught
in Khamarait on 4 March. While the team was still in the village, a
raucous and a loud rally organized by TMC members tried to terrorize the people
by going past the village, bursting bombs, firing bullets in the air and
throwing stones. One young boy, Saiful Molla, was badly injured when a brick
hit him on his head.

Police Response Lethargic and Incompetent

The WSS team also visited PS Kashipur in order to hear the
police version of this violence, however, the ASP and DSP present at the
thana refused to discuss these incidents. It is notable that till date no
one has been held responsible for the murders of two young men, and the
numerous complaints of physical violence by the villagers against the police
have gone completely unheeded. Moreover, instead of initiating dialogue
as promised on 17th January, on the 25th the
police arrested Sharmishta Chaudhary, Pradip Singh Thakur and a young villager,
on very flimsy grounds as shown by the FIR. Later charges under UAPA were
slapped on the accused though they are neither members of banned organiations
and nor were they shown to be indulging in any terrorist activity.

Unanswered Questions and Concerns

The government has yet to answer basic questions of the
villagers as to what are the health impacts of the heightened Electromagnetic
Field that permeates the dwellings, the constant loud high frequency humming
that emanates from the wires, the static charge build up near the towers that
can light a bulb without a power source. How do these impact the
fertility of their soil, the long-term health of the residents, their cattle
and their fisheries? More importantly, the towers are being placed without the
consent of the landowners, and the one time compensation for their use of land
and the right to access is being compensated in a highly opaque and arbitrary
manner, at a fraction of the economic hit being forced upon the villagers.

These are valid and genuine concerns and any government
accountable to its citizens would rush to allay their fears and enter into
dialogue about the costs and benefits of such a project. The fact that
the government is rushing police battalions into the area, instead of trying to
win over the confidence of the people by addressing their concerns highlights
its complete contempt towards local populations.

DEMANDS

The WSS demands that the authorities de-escalate the
situation by holding immediate and unconditional talks with the protesting
villagers and their leaders, and undertake confidence-building measures to gain
back the trust of the villages. This is in the best interests of a functioning
and healthy democracy. The FIRs under which people have been imprisoned include
dozens of other names, including those of many WSS members (Nisha Bishwas,
Swapna Bannerjee, Anuradha Talwar, Krishna Bandopadhyay), and 500-1,500
others who are unnamed, which has given the police a virtual license to arrest
and harass a large number of villagers. Confidence building measures
should include the quashing of such vindictive FIRs. Immediate action
must be taken against police personnel and goons involved in the
violence. Attempts to paint the legitimate and peaceful protest as
unconstitutional or “terrorist” must stop.

11 January 2017

A PIB press release today states that the Government of India intends to initiate
universal maternity entitlements as per the National Food Security Act from 1
January 2017. However, the figures don’t add up. India’s birth rate is around
20 per 1,000. The current population is around 130 crore. So the number of
births per year must be around 26 million.

However, in
the plan presented in the PIB press release, the central government’s
contribution for the next three financial years is only Rs 7,348 crore, or Rs
2,449 crore per year. With a 60:40 ratio for centre/state contributions, this
means a total of barely Rs 4,000 crore per year.

This is a
fraction of what is actually required, even assuming that only the first two
births are covered by maternity entitlements.”Women’s
organizations and the Right to Food Campaign called upon Prime Minister Modi to
make maternity entitlements truly universal instead of the extremely weak
announcement of cash benefits for pregnant and breastfeeding women on 31st December
2016. In a country like India where more than 90% of women are outside of
organised sector employment, state-provided maternity support becomes a crucial
tool for protecting the health of women and their babies.

Kavita Srivastava of People’s Union for
Civil Liberties stated, “The Prime Minister on 31 December 2016 has announced a
cash entitlement of Rs. 6000 for pregnant women across the country; presenting
it as an original idea and also as if it is somehow to mitigate the hardships
caused by demonetisation. However this is far from the truth. This entitlement
was unanimously passed by the parliament in Septemebr 2013 under the National
Food Security Act, but the government had so far not provided the budgetary
allocations for the same.”

“Maternity entitlements are women’s
rights, and not a reward for good behaviour,” said Jashodhara Dasgupta of
SAHAYOG, a women’s organization. With the passing of the National Food Security
Act (NFSA) in 2013, a universal maternity entitlement of at least Rs. 6000 has
been a legal entitlement for all pregnant and lactating women in the country.

Dipa Sinha, of the Right to Food
Campaign stated, “The government, in complete violation of the Act, has failed
to provide the required budget for its implementation. What is currently on the
ground in 53 districts is the 2010 pilot scheme IGMSY (Indira Gandhi Matritva
Sahyog Yojana) that provides Rs 6000 provided pregnant women meet certain
criteria .

Sudeshna Sengupta of the Alliance for
Early Childhood Development mentioned that despite repeated demands by women
and civil society organisations across the country to provide
universal maternity benefits in tune with the NFSA, neither the coverage nor
the budget allocated for the scheme has been enhanced, despite the Supreme
Court asking for an explanation for the delay in implementation.

Sejal Dand of the Mahila Kisaan Adhikar
Manch (MAKAAM) expressed the major concern regarding the inequity in the
maternity entitlements available through the MBA (1961) amendments passed by
the Rajya Sabha in the december 2016 session of the parliament which guarantees
26 weeks of paid leave to women in the formal sector which is only 5% of women
workers in this country. For the largest number of women workers- namely
women farmers and agricultural labour, we will now have a universal
entitlement of a minimal 6000/- rupees.

Denial of this minimalist
entitlement to women who though no choice of theirs bear children under the age
of 19 years of age or have multiparous pregnancies will deprive the most
at risk women, largely from the Dalit, tribal and poorest social groups
from this essential support. There is an urgent need to ensure that technology
is used for ensuring entitlements are made easily and timely available, rather
than become one more hurdle to exclude the poorest"

The organizations expressed concern that
the government already seeks to restrict coverage by imposing conditionalities
on access to this entitlement; similar to the IGMSY. The Prime Minister in his
speech mentioned that this is for women who have institutional deliveries and
immunise their children. Dr. Vandana Prasad of the Working Group for Children
Under 6 pointed out that such conditionalities are likely to further exclude
the most marginalised women from much needed financial support, especially
given poor availability of good quality maternity services.

The demand for universal unconditional
maternity entitlements will be taken by campaigns throughout the year 2017 by
the collective that issued this statement, including:Right to Food Campaign, Alliance for Early Childhood Development, National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human rights,
Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch, women’s groups, trade unions and a number of other
organisations working for the rights of unorganized sector women workers
based in small-scale production, construction and brick-kiln workers, domestic
workers, agricultural labourers and tribal women collecting forest produce, and
so forth.